Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Sutton has donated £3,500 to Portland Charity to support its commitment to making a lasting impact on the lives of people with disabilities in Nottinghamshire and beyond.

The charity, a specialist college and registered care provider that delivers a range of day and residential programmes for people with disabilities, aims to help them lead more independent, fulfilling lives.

As well as donating £1,500, Amazon presented the charity with £2,000-worth of Amazon Alexa technology for its SMARTHome, and staff volunteered more than 50 hours of work to transform an outdoor garden and recreational space for Portland’s Independent Living citizens.

The volunteers also upcycled several picnic benches, giving them a new lease of life and providing an outdoor social space for people with disabilities on campus.

To further support Portland College, Amazon booked the charity’s fully-accessible Woodland Adventure Zone for a team fun event, where employees took part in interactive team building activities and competitions.

Vivek Khanka, general manager at Amazon Sutton, said: “Portland College provides fantastic support for its young people, helping them develop their independence and employability skills. I am glad we could support them.”

Laura Levitt, who works at Amazon Sutton and nominated Portland for the donation, added: “As soon as I visited Portland College, I knew that I wanted to help.

“The atmosphere is incredible and the campus is filled with energetic, engaging, and passionate staff.

“You can tell they all really care about their learners and citizens.”

Dr Mark Dale, principal and charity chief executive, said: “Our award-winning Maples SMARTHome uses Alexa technology and enables people and their families to experience this technology, which can be easily replicated in their own homes for a very small investment.

“We are thankful for the generous support from Amazon, which will enable more disabled people to benefit from this technology to help them with daily tasks that can often be taken for granted.

“We’re excited to work in partnership with Amazon to identify other innovations for disabled people.”